Re: Moonshine, today

Very interesting, Tim, good catch. Reading this reminded me of what Michael Jackson wrote in his 1988 World Guide To Whisky about a grizzled, former moonshiner pictured in the text, "he is an unrepentant whiskey lover".

Re: Moonshine, today

&gt; I know people got hurt, but home stills were the way the country used to be.

Home stills actually aren't really all that dangerous, as long as they don't
explode or burn down the house. Them fellers tryin' to make deep fried
turkeys... now that's trouble right there, I'll tell you what.

Re: Moonshine, today

Despite the somewhat negative spin, I thought the moonshine special on CMT was great! What were your thoughts? Did anybody else see it?

Perhaps there is some risk in consuming moonshine, but I'll say this - I think there is a fair amount of moonshine consumed around here (in rural VA), but, in the seven years I've been practicing here, I have yet to treat my first moonshine related illness. Fortunately, I have government approved tobacco consumption to keep the patients rolling in. Otherwise, business would be a bit slow.

Re: Moonshine, today

The officers seized several large metal barrels, in which corn mash allegedly was fermented, and other items needed to make moonshine, including propane tanks and three large bags of sugar.

Modern moonshiners, especially those who are doing it as a business and not just for fun, rarely use corn or any other grain. They use table sugar, which is relatively cheap (thanks to subsidies), available and easy to work with. No worries about cooking, conversion, enzymes or any of that. Sugar water ferments up right nice. I have heard of moonshiners adding a couple cans of creamed corn for flavor, but that's about it.

Re: Moonshine, today

Re: Moonshine, today

&gt; I have heard of moonshiners adding a couple cans of creamed corn for
&gt; flavor, but that's about it.

Creamed corn??? That's a new one for me! I have heard tell of the
the virtues of adding tomato paste to a sugar wash, but for the most
part, large operations use a little splash of dried grains in their
sugar water.

My feeling is that pure sugar water is the recipe of the isolated
beginner... it just doesn't provide the nutrients and raw materials
that the yeast needs, and dramatic improvements are seen when you
treat the yeast marginally better.